Ex-servicemen, spouses to get jobs at Amazon India

Global e-tailer Amazon's Indian arm on Monday launched a military veterans' employment programme to offer jobs to ex-servicemen and their spouses at its fulfilment, sort and delivery centres across the country.

"The programme will be implemented in partnership with the Director-General of Resettlement and the Army Welfare Placement Organisation," Amazon India said in a statement here.

The e-commerce giant has about 50 fulfilment and 200 delivery centres in cities and towns across the country.

The company did not, however, disclose how many sort centres it has at its fulfilment and delivery centres.

A company spokesperson said that as a policy, it does not disclose how many people are cumulatively employed at the respective centres in the Indian sub-continent.

"The employment at the centres, most of them on contract basis, varies as more are hired at peak sales season around festivals and other occasions when special sales are held with discounts and compliments," the spokesperson told IANS.

"The novel programme creates continued job opportunity for military families, which respect principles and work ethics," said the statement.

In defence of employing ex-servicemen, the company said that it was committed to diverse and inclusive hiring, creating opportunities for diverse individuals to realise their potentials.

"Over the years, we have hired military veterans for various roles spanning transportation, customer fulfilment, facilities management and security operations to name a few," the company said in the statement.

Amazon Asia operations Vice President Akhil Saxena said the company would scale and extend the programme to hire talent from the Air Force, Navy and police families in the future.

"Thousands of personnel retire from the army every year. They are well-trained, self-motivated and have served the country over the years with a result-oriented culture. We find Amazon a match for them to work," an army official said in the statement.

Amazon Programme Manager Shivani Bhatia said that defence personnel have integrity, discipline, motivation, flexibility and adaptability. They are also on time and have team management skills.

An e-commerce market analyst, however, said the company should hire more youth in their 20s and 30s given that unemployment rate is at a 45-year peak and job opportunities are scarce due to economic slowdown.

"Jobs for ex-servicemen and their spouses are laudable as a worthy cause but should not be at the cost of thousands of unemployed youth whose future is at stake," the analyst told IANS on condition of anonymity.

Amazon has engaged a whopping 1,75,000 military veterans and their spouses in the programme the world over.